Oxford Town Council held a special meeting on October 21st, with the sole purpose of moving forward on the Main Street revitalization project.
Long the focus of complaints from resident about the rough ride through the downtown core, the Town has awarded the contract for the engineering study and production of technical design plans to Harbourside Transportation Consultants (HTC), a division of Harbourside Engineering Group. Once the firm delivers the technical drawings by the end of the year, the town can then go ahead with funding applications from the provincial and federal governments. Final plans are expected by the end of March, at which point town staff will put the construction contract out to tender. The hope is to have shovels in the ground by summer 2027.
This is Phase II of a four-phase, multi-year infrastructure project that the Town of Oxford is implementing to fix aging underground water works and tackle above-ground paving that incorporates climate-friendly design aimed at mitigating flooding.
Harbourside Transportation Consultants’ bid came in at $193,440, considerably less than the estimated cost of $280,455 while scoring second-lowest (out of five) in the technical ranking. That includes the initial engineering studies, creation of the construction plans that will be published with the tender next Spring, and supervision and testing during the construction project to ensure that whichever company wins the bid to carry out the work is meeting expectations.
Councillors had a brief discussion about the winning bid, with Councillor Paul Jones wondering about the history of the firm, since it’s one Oxford has not dealt with previously. Matt Delorme, one of the assessors of the bids who works with the Atlantic Infrastructure Management Network (AIM), reassured Jones and Council that the company was one that has a history of delivering these kinds of projects. A review of the HTC website shows several other jobs completed for municipal governments across the Atlantic region and beyond.
Councillor Brenton Colborne wondered why, since the project includes paving Main Street from Hanlon Street up to the 104 Connector, the town wasn’t going to replace the sewer system on Main Street along that section as well. Mayor Greg Henley noted that this renovation of Main Street will include the replacement of underground water, sewer and storm drains from Water Street to Hanlon Street, whereas the paving further up Main Street will not include any underground work. Any issues that arise with the sewer system further up the street will be the responsibility of future councils to address. Delorme noted that the water system that is being replaced under this project dates back to the 1930s, and is essential to replace now.
In an August, 2025 presentation by Finance Manager RuthAnn Brookins, Town Council was shown a map of the water system throughout the town of Oxford. That map indicated the state of the underground infrastructure from Hanlon Street up Main Street was in good condition, with expectations of failure along that section to be “rare”.
Councillor Colborne also asked whether the existing sewer system that lies within the area to be rebuilt will necessarily be replaced, or if it will only be tackled if needed, since the concrete system that was installed when he worked with the Public Works Department was possibly still in good shape. Delorme, with the AIM Network, responded that Harbourside Transportation Consultants would be using cameras to inspect the system during the design phase to determine what can be left untouched and what must be replaced, a step that could potentially help reduce the project’s overall price tag of nearly $4.45-million.
Video of the Special Council Meeting of October 21st should be available soon on the Town of Oxford’s YouTube channel.
I like the coverage you provide for council meetings. It is truly appreciated by Oxford town Council.